Cultivating Companies

Abstract

A veteran turnaround manager, envious of the greenhouse of privacy and financial security in which private equity firms cultivate companies, lays out three things owners can do to be sure they never need to call her. Focus relentessly on the cash and how it moves; move beyond periodic reports to qualitative assessment of what is going on inside and outside the company; and foster a culture in which people are free to be themselves, taking risks, making mistakes, fixing them, and being valued for doing so. Companies are living breathing organisms, and respond to owner's nurture.